Sunday 21st December 2014…the solstice!!!

My alarm went off at 7am and I got ready for the big hiking day and met Pierre at the gas station in town Kerrie was not there this morning so just Pierre and I set off on another of our “we have to reach 9000 feet hikes”

This is where we were headed…

If you zoom in on the above shot where the X is that is the towers that we hiked to three weeks ago and we going back close to there but with a different route….the sun never really showed her or his face today but nice for hiking…….lots of animals today!!!

Looking back down the trail..

More hikers on the trail!!!

If this had been a yellow arrow I could have been back on the Camino!!

We chatted to this rancher who was watching his herd!!!

It took us three hours to get to the summit and a view of the towers again

And then our lunch destination at the crater rim and 9100 feet..mission accomplished!!!

Coming down was a lot quicker and this baby was by the car

We picked up a thorn in the tire and had to go to a local repair shop

The owner’s 13 year old son was working hard

15 minutes and 50 pesos later we were back on the road……

Gone nearly 6 hours and we did 12 miles a great day!!!!

Home and into the tub and soaked for about 45 minutes and rumor has it I may even have fell asleep…..

Just had some pea soup thank you to a special friend!!!!

Now guess what……turned on the TV and there is a pre recorded soccer game from England!!!!!!

 

This was sent to me and how appropriate this special time of the year

Two Horses

Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each looks like every other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing.
Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.
This alone is amazing.
If nearby and listening, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her halter is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.
As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is,

trusting that she will not lead him astray.

When she returns to the shelter of the barn each evening,

she stops occasionally and looks back,

making sure her friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.
Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.

He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in
need.

Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives.

Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see.
Good friends are like this..........You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Please listen for my bell

and

I'll try to remember to listen for yours.

Two Horses

 

 

 

 

This reminded me of  when I was on the Camino early morning and I was on a foot path in the hills and I heared these bells it was amazing as I got closer I saw 5 of these

I just sat by the side of their field and was serenaded for 5 minutes it was one of those surreal moments….

 

Another article I enjoyed!!!

(Thinkstock)

Many of the methods advised to ward off the common cold are based on pseudoscience rather than fact. David Robson looks at what works and what doesn’t

Related

Does echinacea prevent colds?

The code that may treat blindness

Feed a cold, starve a fever?

Are ‘oceans’ hiding inside Earth?

Why do you get a fever?

Memory lapses may signal stroke

People with memory problems who have a university education could be at greater risk of a stroke.

Covering your chest with brown paper and vinegar, soaking your feet in hot water, or wearing wet socks – the old cures for the common cold can seem laughable in light of modern medicine.

Yet the apparent benefits of many of the treatments we take for granted today – such as dosing up on vitamins or snorting salt water – evaporate under scrutiny. So what works and what doesn’t? BBC Future has sifted through the evidence to find out.

Don’t dose up on vitamin C (but perhaps boost your zinc)

(Thinkstock)

“The first thing that many people will try is to supplement their diet with vitamins C and D,” says Michael Allan at the University of Alberta in Canada, who recently reviewed the evidence for the most popular remedies. “But the evidence is terrible for those.” Dosing up on vitamin C has been shown to mildly protect people under great physical strain– such as marathon runners – from falling ill, but for the average person it reduces your risk by just a 3%. “If an adult gets two colds a year, you’ll only avoid one cold in 15 years,” says Allan.

Zinc lozenges may have a firmer footing. Based on three clinical trials, Allan says that children taking regular zinc supplements will suffer roughly 1 to 1.5 fewer colds a year, on average – compared to the six to eight that is normal for school children. There is also some evidence that it can reduce the duration of a cold by a day or so. Given that zinc tastes unpleasantly astringent, and you would need to take it all year round for the full benefit, Allan is unsure if he would recommend it for general use.

Do enjoy a tipple… maybe

(Thinkstock)

Perhaps we see it as a form of penance. It’s commonly held wisdom is that a night on the booze will weaken your body’s defences and make you open to attack from viruses. The question has not been widely explored by doctors, but three independent studies suggest that regular (but moderate) drinkers are in fact less likely to catch a cold. Your tipple of choice seems to matter – wine helps whereas beer does not. Even so, this is only preliminary evidence and should be taken with reasonable scepticism, but it at least suggests that you need not blame self-indulgence for your suffering.

Don’t take antibiotics, but do consider cold relief pills

(Thinkstock)

Put bluntly, there is no reason why antibiotics should help – since they target bacteria, whereas it is a virus that causes a cold. “There’s no real benefit from antibiotics, but they do increase the risk of adverse events like diarrhoea,” says Allan. Your best bet is to try to reduce your symptoms. Over-the-counter pills that combine antihistamines with decongestants or painkillers help relieve some of the nastier symptoms for adults (not children). But even then, the benefits are often modest and probably differ between people, and the particular types of infection they are suffering from, says Allan.

Do take a spoonful of honey (but beware other herbal remedies)

(Thinkstock)

In general, herbal remedies – such as echinacea, or garlic tablets – fail to deliver the goods. The only one to show any promise is honey. A spoonful, taken straight before bed, was found to soothe a cough in three different studies, and proved better than other sugary drinks and cough syrups. Even so, the remedy has mostly been tested on children (although one study suggested that a combination of honey and coffee could help clear persistent cough in adults.) And the mechanism is far from clear. “But with good research [behind it], I think it’s reasonable to try,” Allan says.

Finally… ask for some TLC

The people that surround you may just determine how quickly you recover. Patients who report feeling greater empathy from their doctor seem to get over their illness more quickly, an effect that can be seen both in their own reports of the symptoms, and more objective measures of their immune activity. It’s not clear if the same is true of people closer to home, but in the absence of a miracle cure, a little compassion is not much to ask – and might just provide solace where the other remedies have failed.

(Thinkstock)

There are plenty of other questions that could be explored with further research. When travelling on a crowded bus, for instance, is it better to have the windows open, to flush out all the germs, even if that means everyone gets a chill? Such questions are very difficult to study scientifically with any precision. But by far the best measure, says Allan, is to simply use your common sense – wash your hands regularly and don’t share drinks with people who are already infected. It’s not the panacea we may all be waiting for, but sometimes the simplest answer is also the most effective.

 

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Saturday 20th December 2014……yes OK I fess up sports day again!!!!!

Not to sound like a broken record but up at 7am and watched a live soccer game from England and already the sun was out and shining…then into town for my usual two hours of great mixed doubles tennis…it was very competitive and fun but I still do not understand why Loren gets so upset with me…you be the judge… this ball is clearly OUT!!!!!

As I always say what a great way to start the day…I then went across the street to the farmer’s market and bought a few things…

Finally home around 12.30pm and had lunch watching the birds.

Does this look like a well fed and contented cat!!!!

This is not a humming bird!!!

I then relaxed the rest of the afternoon and then went back into town..the route that I go through the sub division here takes me by this big house with a high wall and usually I see my buddy who does a minor howl….NOW I have a camera I can take shots of him…pretty cute face…

Here he is doing his howl!!!

On a side bar here when I divorced my wife in 1983 there was a very bitter battle on assets and I was taken to the cleaners but I did get custody of Major!!!!!!

He was a great companion and when I drive by and see the dog above I think of Major!!!!

On the way back to the Jardin I stopped  at a local restaurant to order Christmas dinner for Rita and I…..and what follows took a minute but the pleasure lasts a life time and is so typical of this country…I go into the restaurant and the young man the owner is holding this delightful young baby 4 month old Natalie…he is trying to write my order down whilst holding his daughter so I simply put  my hands out and asked him to let me hold her and he passed  her off to me…she had the most beautiful black eyes and just stared at me smiled and was happy ……..when her Dad had finished with the order I handed her back and kissed her… as those old Visa ads used to say priceless!!!!!

I then went to the Jardin which was a hive of activity with this guy in one corner performing

a one man band and he was good!!

In the bandstand a local church choir singing Christmas carols

The Mariachis getting ready…

and finally a wedding at the big church!!!

Ladies how do you walk in these!!!!

I enjoyed my time down town and now home feasting on a lovely chicken dinner, watching a soccer game from England and will finish with a hockey game from Vancouver…told you I was sports crazy!!!

 

My kind of humor!!!!

I keep posting these articles I find interesting hope you do too!!!!

Loma Linda: The secret to a long healthy life?

By Peter Bowes BBC News, Loma Linda, California

101-year-old Betty Streifling (centre) is one of Loma Linda's long-living residents

 

In a world where the cost of the obesity crisis is widely acknowledged to be as damaging as smoking and armed conflict, it is refreshing to discover a community that bucks the trend.

It is all the more surprising that the California town of Loma Linda, which oozes good health amongst its inhabitants, is found amidst an urban landscape of fast food restaurants and convenience stores.

But this is a place that has an enviable record of its residents living to a ripe old age, often without the burdens of chronic illness until very late in life.

Studies have shown that people here live up to 10 years longer than most Americans and enjoy better health in their golden years.

The reason for this extraordinary longevity could be rooted in their faith. Seventh-day Adventists make up about half of the approximately 24,000 people who live here. It is an evangelical Christian community that follows strict guidelines about food, exercise and rest.

"The data is clear, the data has been published, the data has been peer reviewed," says Dr Wayne Dysinger, chair of the preventative medicine department at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

"There's really not a lot of argument that people [living] this lifestyle, live longer."

Richard Schaefer says Ellen White warned of the dangers of tobacco far before it was accepted science

Loma Linda, Spanish for "beautiful" or "lovely" hill", is 100km east of Los Angeles. It has been known as a mecca for healthy living for decades.

The town was adopted at the turn of the 20th century, by the health-focused founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, who purchased property in the area.

Ellen White, a leading church pioneer and spiritual guide, remarked that she was enchanted by the charm of the place.

White, a diminutive woman with a powerful personality, was a prolific author and inspired the Church's teachings on matters of diet, exercise and lifestyle. She claimed that her beliefs were based on visionary experiences - dreams and conversations with God.

"She called tobacco a slow insidious, malignant poison in 1864," says Richard Schaefer, a historian in the archives section of the University's library system. That was 100 years before the US surgeon general first broached the topic.

White, who had little formal education, said alcohol damaged the brain and also wrote about the dangers of consuming too much salt.

"She said, 'the whys and wherefores of this I know not, but I give you the instruction as it is given me'. She said we need to take it very sparingly," adds Schaefer.

Adventists believe that their longevity is linked to their respect of the human body as a temple of the holy spirit.

"You are duty bound to reserve that temple for God's service, because he made us," explains retired Pastor Belgrove Josiah.

"Because of that principle we are very concerned about what we put into our bodies."

"We don't discard altogether medical science," Josiah adds. "Because medical science has a lot to do with guiding us on how to treat the body."

Betty credits her long life with no drugs, going to bed early and "praising God for his goodness"

The Adventist's way of life involves a mostly plant-based diet, regular exercise and a commitment to celebrate the Sabbath as the day of rest.

A long-term study, which started in 1976, involving 34,000 members of the church, concluded that their lifestyle added a significant number of years to the average lifespan. Researchers identified "striking" protective effects of a vegetarian diet.

"When we look at just mortality, Adventists appear to die of approximately the same diseases but the age at which they die is much later," says Dr Larry Beeson, a professor in epidemiology at Loma Linda University.

Beeson has been involved in research on Seventh-day Adventists for over 50 years.

He argues that their healthy status is based on more than just diet. It is a complex mix of religiosity, spirituality and a person's understanding of their belief in God combined with other lifestyle components such as exercise and social support.

When I met Betty Streifling she was lifting weights at the gym in her retirement home. The 101-year old lives at the Linda Valley Villa, a community for old folks who are able to look after themselves. The average age is 90.

Streifling lives in her own apartment, a cosy home full of family mementoes and furniture made by her late husband. She attends an exercise class five days a week and takes a morning stroll in the street.

She puts her longevity down to "living a pure life, no alcohol, no tobacco, going to bed early, praising God for his goodness and for the blessing of life".

The town's health is partly reflected by the precepts of the Seventh-day Adventist church

Every Friday evening Loma Linda falls quiet. On Saturday, Adventists take the day off from anything that could be considered work.

This includes browsing social media or, in some cases, watching television. For most, Saturday is a day to recuperate from the past week and to be with family and friends.

"Our Sabbath is more than just the church that takes place in the morning," says Dustin Aho, executive pastor at the huge University Church, which dominates the centre of town.

"The actual Sabbath day is in our name, Seventh-day Adventists, and so the day is crucial. What is more crucial to us is the time set aside for our community and for our God."

 

 

It is possible to buy a burger and fries in Loma Linda, although last year the city council banned the operation of any new "formula-based fast food restaurants that offer drive-through food service". The moved was designed to the "protect public health, safety and welfare" of its residents.

There are vibrant farmers markets and health food stores doing brisk business in nuts and leafy greens.

Pastor Belgrove Josiah: We don't discard altogether medical science

The Loma Linda lifestyle appears to add up to a potent recipe for wellbeing. It's not for everyone and most Adventists acknowledge that there are degrees of compliance to the dietary and social guidelines outlined by the church.

But there is little doubt that this community can expect to live significantly longer than most other people.

It is a compelling model for a world struggling with the scourge of obesity, diabetes and the chronic diseases of old age.

Yashi Kochi!!!!!

Friday 18th December 2014…….you guessed it a Pearson day!!!!!

A short blog today really because it was a true Pearson day I hiked to my favorite canyon but because of the recent great weather no water flowing into the canyon but I still loved the peace and tranquility of the area and the good news is I now have a borrowed camera so can start showing you more photos of my Adonis body!!!!!!….Gregg ordered my camera and it is on its way to New York and then back to SMA in early January!!!!!

Blessings to all I hope you enjoy the final weekend before the holidays!!!

 

 

Anyone relate to this!!!!

 

 

Another BBC website story!!!

Serving for Success - Anyone for Tennis?

The phrase "Anyone for tennis?" may have entered popular parlance 100 years ago but today the sport is played by super-fit athletes.

The modern professional is a hard-hitting powerhouse - strong, quick and agile.

Reaching the top of the tennis tree in the 21st century relies on intense physical training with the appliance of science and technology.

"When you play tennis these days you need everything," French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up, told the BBC.

"You need to be quick, you need endurance and you need to be powerful."

This physicality is also prevalent in the women's game, where the top players are capable of firing serves close to 130mph (210kph) - just 30mph slower than the top men.

"It's all about power," says 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska.

"Instead of just being about technique, it's more physical and much faster. There's a lot of difference between tennis now and 20 years ago."

Modern demands modern techniques

The evolution of tennis from a deft serve and volley game to power play from the baseline has led to an anatomical player evolution too.

"You need to be a complete athlete," explains Matt Little, strength and conditioning coach for 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

"The players can move at speeds of 20-30 metres a second on court but they might also be out there for as much as five hours, which is marathon runner levels of endurance.

"Rallies can last up to 60 metres in terms of sprinting length, with any number of changes of direction.

 

“The confidence a player has going into a match knowing no stone has been left unturned in their physical training is absolutely huge”

Matt Little Andy Murray's strength and conditioning coach

"There are huge forces, three or four times the player's body weight, going through a single leg."

To cope with the stresses and strains on the body, players can spend as many as 35 hours a week getting match fit.

Old-fashioned hitting practice on court still forms the bulk of the training but the modern demands of the game means this has to be supplemented by a rigorous fitness regime.

"I usually train for two hours in the gym each day," says Japan's 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori. "I focus on a lot of core work and running for endurance."

United States number one John Isner adds: "It's a grind. I practice for two hours on court and then spend time in the gym doing core work and leg strengthening."

Murray adds flair to the training treadmill by attending hot yoga classes while Radwanska says she likes to dance.

But advances in sports science and tennis technology are now also helping players hone what nature has given them and reach their peak physical potential.

Inside the modern London headquarters of the Lawn Tennis Association, the sports science and medicine facilities are playing an increasing role in physically preparing British players like Murray.

Technology revolution

Its high-tech facilities include an altitude chamber, hydrotherapy pools and cardiac screening.

"We do hydration and blood lactate testing on the players so we can learn as much as we can about their bodies," explains Little.

"The altitude chamber helps mimic conditions for players travelling overseas and there are fitness gains to training with limited access to oxygen.

"We also use GPS [global positioning system] equipment to monitor a player's speed and direction of movement.

"The confidence a player has going into a match knowing no stone has been left unturned in their physical training is absolutely huge."

The evolution of tennis technology

• 1870s: The game of lawn tennis is developed from its origins in royal or real tennis. Early racquets are made from ash and animal gut strings
• 1968: The dawn of the steel racquet as Billie Jean King wins the Wimbledon singles title with Wilson T2000, which also becomes synonymous with Jimmy Connors's success
• 1972: Yellow balls are introduced by governing body the International Tennis Federation in place of traditional white balls
• 1983: Frenchman Yannick Noah is the last man to win grand slam with a wooden racquet as steel and carbon composite racquets grow in popularity
• 1991: IBM speed guns to clock service speed make grand slam debut at Wimbledon
• 2002: Hawk-Eye ball-tracking technology makes its debut in tennis as part of the BBC TV's Davis Cup coverage
• 2006: Wimbledon becomes the first grand slam to introduce Hawk-Eye line calling system
• 2014: International Tennis Federation approves Player Analysis Technology, such as heart rate monitors, during competition

The LTA also employs the Hawk-Eye tracking technology - used during grand slam tournaments to show whether a ball is in or out - as a coaching aid for its elite players as it monitors the trajectory of the ball and the player's on-court movement.

The Kim Clijsters Academy in Belgium is the only other facility to use Hawk-Eye as a training aid.

Tennis technology is, however, now moving away from the practice court and into the high-pressure cauldron of the match court.

The sport's governing body, the International Tennis Federation, has radically updated its rules for 2014, giving the green light for what it calls "Player Analysis Technology" to be used during matches.

This technology includes heart-rate monitors and player tracking systems, which transmit information in real time.

"The market is now open," says Max de Vylder, the LTA's research and development manager.

"Until now we could only monitor a player using TV footage or Hawk-Eye but now we can put data chips in shoes and in racquets. Players can wear heart rate monitors and accelerometers.

"What technology does is help a coach and a player understand better and faster what their strengths and weaknesses are.

"In the short term, technology can help players be ready for the next match, but in the long term it can lower bad technique and the risk of injury."

Ability mix

Advances in technology have already shaped the physical nature of the modern tennis player.

The evolution from small, wooden racquets to super-size composite racquets at the end of the 1970s changed the game for good, increasing spin, power and shot creativity.

"The old, heavier wooden racquets were very unforgiving and by the fifth set you could be exhausted," explains Ralf Schwenger, director of research and development for racquet manufacturer Head. "Modern technology has helped a lot.

"The carbon or graphene frame can now weigh around 250g while a wooden racquet was 400g. The trend is also towards a mid-plus size racquet, which is 96-105 square inches (600-680 cm square).

"The revolution of the racquet is important. Now it's easier to have a margin of error, to play defensively and have less fatigue in your game."

Despite the march of technology into equipment, training and onto the courts, the human body remains the most important tool in tennis.

But when asked to describe a perfect tennis body, Little had to choose characteristics from a selection of today's stars.

"You need the incredible strength of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray," he suggests.

"The balance of Roger Federer, the endurance of David Ferrer, the power of Serena Williams, the flexibility of Novak Djokovic and the fun of Gael Monfils."

Even at the top of the tennis tree, it seems no body is perfect.

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Thursday 18th December 2014..blink and the day is gone!!!

Well for a change I was not scheduled to be on the tennis courts this morning now winter is here more snow birds come down and our group gets larger so not so many games but I was lucky I joined another group for a drop in this afternoon.

I was in town by 10 am as I had to go to the Doctors to get some blood work done I need the reports for the medical insurance I am applying for…it was all very simple the nurse took the blood I paid 500 pesos and I go back this afternoon for the results!!!

I then went to see Sylvester to see if he had been able to fix my camera but when I got to his house he was sorry but he could not get it going so then I went into a photography store in town where the owner told me to bring the camera in and he would check it out and he also said that he could not repair it!!!!

Next stop was to go sit in the main square and just watch the festivities, the children and life go by…I also had brought some lunch as I was starving because I had fasted to have the blood work done and I enjoyed the lunch and just watching, listening and thinking!!!

Went to the courts at 1pm and joined the other 11 players and we changed partners and all played for two hours it was fun and a lot different playing in the middle of the day as opposed to the usual 9 o clock start….I do love my new racquet still getting used to it but it has a great feel and of course I smile and think that it is a gift!!!!

After tennis I went back into town and picked up my results and I need to see the doctor on Monday to talk about them and then get them sent away to the insurance folks!!!!

I was home by 4.30pm in time to relax with a cup of tea and then get showered and changed and I went back into town to attend the play at the local church…I go there quite often it is a good night out for only 20 pesos and tonight it was a raunchy comedy!!!!

So now here I am back home and have decided I need to get a new camera so I have talked to my friend Gregg who is leaving on Monday for the States and will return first week in January and he is going to order and bring me a new camera and I have decided on exactly the same camera this one has served me really well…….  wondering where the day went.

 

·

This letter below was sent to me by a friend and I trust you read it and think……..

From Hiba, a Pakistani woman, mother, sister, artist, and peacemaker.

Dear Glennon,

Two days ago when you posted about Pakistan, I wanted to write to you and thank you for your heart, but I felt shy.

Today, when you have written about stepping gently into each other’s worlds, I am compelled to reach out to you; to somehow make this invisible thread connecting us, stronger, more tangible.

You see, I am a Muslim Pakistani woman. I am the ‘other’ in many, many ways. And I am of a people reeling from tragedy. 132 of my school children have been killed by people who profess to follow my faith. It’s so hard, so very hard, to be of a race and a faith that is the subject of so much misunderstanding, so much misrepresentation, so much hate both internal
and external. But we can do hard things, right?!

I am connecting with you today to make a deliberate declaration, however inconsequential, to those who spread hate that peace and goodness and bridge building will always be more powerful than they are. To announce that whether we are a Muslim Pakistani woman like me, or a Christian Florida gal like yourself, we are all the same. To prove that Love Wins.

I am sharing below an excerpt of something I wrote on the day of the school massacre. Some people asked why, as a Muslim writer, I included a Christmas carol. I’d like to think it is because, like you, I insist on dreaming of the possibility of that ONE world where grace and miracles abound, where it doesn’t matter who is quoting what as long as they are truth-telling and hope-spreading.

Glennon, in Islam, we believe that Muslims, Christians and Jews worship the same One God, the same Ii’lah. May that One God bless you with increasing wisdom, continued eloquence, a bigger cloffice and ever-excellent coffee.

Merry Christmas to you and yours and a happy new year.
---------

My three year old daughter adores the color pink. Every time she sees it, no matter where, she exclaims joyfully, “For me? For me!” Last week, I was at the beach with my kids. As the sun began to set, pinks and purples streaked and lept across the sky in a breathtaking evening dance. When I pointed it out to my little girl, she exclaimed, in her particular high sweet voice, “The sky is so beautiful for me, Mama? For me!”. I held her in my arms, kissed her head, in the way that us sappy moms do when our kids school us in Life, and said “Yes. Yes, of course it’s for you.” Because she was absolutely right, it was.

There is a beautiful sky above us today, Pakistan. It is for us. There is
beauty, in every shade and color, all over our beloved country today and every day. It is for us.

These terrorists, these evil, loathsome, misguided individuals, win when we
tell ourselves and our children that this world is all darkness. They win when we stop believing with our very core that “Hum aik hain. Hum naik hain,” We are one. We are good.

Tomorrow, when you wake up and your stomach sinks and you remember the horror of this day, do something good for those one hundred children no longer with us. One hundred random acts of kindness for one hundred strangers. Give one hundred rupees to as many people as you can. Light one hundred candles. Recite one hundred verses from the Quran. Spend one hundred seconds in reverent silence. Do whatever you can to announce loudly and proudly to your heart and whoever else wants to hear you that “Pakistan is for me! This world is for me!”

There is a beautiful Christian hymn of which one part is:

“Said the King to the people everywhere
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace people everywhere
Listen to what I say
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light.”

May these sleeping children pave the way for goodness and light for Pakistan. May the horror of today become the promise of tomorrow. And may in God’s wisdom and mercy we always trust, amen.

Hiba

*********************

Amen, Hiba. Love You True and Deep and Real. We are one. We are good. We belong to each other. G

 

and another local article!!!!

Mexico police reform: How might it work?

By Will Grant BBC News, Mexico City

Police stand guard at a Mass for the dead students in Iguala

 

The Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has unveiled a plan to reform the police, two months after they were implicated in a mass abduction in the town of Iguala which ended in the disappearance of 43 students. The attorney general's office says gang members confessed to murdering them.

Mr Pena Nieto hopes this plan will mark a turning point in the crisis. "After Iguala, Mexico should change," he said.

His supporters believe the 10-point plan will tackle the ingrained problems in policing and justice in the country, but opponents say the proposals fail to tackle the levels of corruption and impunity that allowed the disappearances to happen in the first place.

Here we look at five key proposals and some of the issues around them.

1. Replace the country's 1,800 municipal police forces with state-level forces

Presidential spokesman Eduardo Sanchez says this will ensure Mexicans will have "well-trained, well-equipped police capable of carrying out their duties efficiently". He cites the example of the state of Nuevo Leon, where a recent purge of municipal police forces produced "extraordinary results".

Recent attempts at purging local police forces, such as in the drug war-ravaged state of Coahuila, have failed but he says that the new measure will mean reforms are underpinned by federal law and "won't depend on the good will of individual governors or mayors".

Asked about the fate of existing municipal police officers, Mr Sanchez said there will be a purge but that "any citizen who meets the requirements of these (state-level) police units will be eligible to join."

Alejandro Hope, a drugs war analyst based in Mexico City, questions the value of applying what happened in Nuevo Leon to the rest of the country. He says the state has not been able to find enough new police to be an effective force.

2. Give the central government powers to dissolve local governments allegedly infiltrated by drug cartels

Eduardo Sanchez says the proposal is based on an Italian measure, enacted when there are "solid indications that the mayor or the local government is linked with organised crime". Some are already questioning the wisdom of copying on an Italian law, when the country has had Mafia problems for decades.

In addition, there are concerns that it is "another example of the centralisation of power", says Alejandro Ramos from the Centre for Human Rights in Guerrero

Mr Ramos, who has been working closely with the families of the 43 disappeared students, says he is wary any move that might increase the power of the presidency.

Alejandro Hope says that there are laws already to dissolve local authorities that the attorney general considers have been "compromised" by the cartels, but that the political will to do so has always been lacking.

3. Give national identity numbers to all Mexicans

Mexicans already have citizenship cards, so the proposal is for a new system that will include more information about physical appearance, and therefore be harder to counterfeit. The proposal is also to create some form of a national database. Government spokesman Eduardo Sanchez says the plan will "provide the certainty that Mexico has a register of its entire population".

Critics say the plan will add a new layer of bureaucracy to a country already deeply entrenched in government paperwork, but Mr Hope thinks the plan is a good idea.

"There could be some practical difficulties, as we already have a national identity number, but the key is to link legal identity to physical identity," he says.

4. Boost federal security forces in key areas

There are already around 10,000 members of the federal security forces in Guerrero and thousands more have been deployed to the three other troubled states: Michoacan, Jalisco and Tamaulipas. The government says more reinforcements are needed.

The idea assumes, of course, that the federal forces are trustworthy. Alejandro Ramos is far from convinced: "It's not just the municipal [police] forces who are 'contaminated'. All the police forces in Mexico are affected."

5. A national emergency hotline

There is no single number in Mexico to call in an emergency. Each state has its own number for key emergency services.

Few would argue against the creation of a single number around which all emergency services could coalesce, but representatives of the disappeared 43 students say that in today's Mexico, even a phone call is a question of trust.

"A national emergency number would be useful," says Alejando Ramos, "but at the moment civil society just wouldn't believe it. We know that the people who'd attend your emergency are the same police that are linked to organised crime."

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Wednesday 17th December 2014……where did the day go!!!

The usual busy Wednesday coming up starting with me going to yoga at 9.30am and from there I did a few more errands in town before going to my Spanish lesson at 11.30am I was not as over whelmed as I was on Monday and Marysol is very very good with me and today I was trying to conjugate and make sentences with irregular verbs…I think with practice over the weekend I might get the hang of it……this is certainly not easy for me but I love the hour lesson and my studies and I know it is good to try to keep the old brain stimulated and I have in the past been accused of having the Pearson stubborn streak.

After the lesson it is straight to poker…this is our last meting till next year and happy to announce that since coming back in August I have only lost once…. today was a meager earning but still a win…50 pesos…..I also enjoy my afternoon with the guys they are a great bunch of fun loving men and I am proud to call them my friends!!!

I was home by 5pm and came home to the power being off everywhere in the house…..so I went into the closets and did another purge on my clothes which I shall give to Rafael, the gardener, for Christmas…got out my 2015 day planner and started to transfer data from this year’s into the new one… looked at the dates of my classes for next year and I think I can squeeze a beach trip in late January for a week without missing a class.  I do miss the ocean and I am overdue for a swim and long beach walks so I look forward to that.

I am still quite thrilled that I was able to get a new tennis racquet and have it for a gift!!!

I have made my plans for Christmas day I am playing tennis for two hours in the morning and then I am going to a restaurant that is offering take out full turkey dinners and will purchase two and take them to Rita’s house and we will have dinner together and then I will let her beat me at cards…I WISH!!!  She is not able to get out of the house just yet so it will make for a nice afternoon and then the next day I have a road trip planned to a hiking area I went to about two years ago that is quite spectacular, canyon like country!!!

I didn’t know these facts

Yesterday was the 15th, the first day of the posada.  It lasts nine days finishing on the 24th.  Each of the 9 days represents a month of María's pregnancy.  La Posada is the Inn María and Joseph were looking for to have a place for the birth.
The religious Catholics celebrate each evening of the Posada either in their homes or their church with prayers, songs and ending with a Piñata.
The Piñata was originally from China brought to Europe by Marco Polo.  In China the Piñata was used to celebrate the coming year from an agricultural point of view.  It was filled with 5 types of seeds.  When the Mandarin Kings broke the Piñata with a rod, the seeds that fell out were burned.  The people tried to gather some of the ashes for they believed the ashes brought them luck.
In Europe the significance was changed into a religious one, and when the Spaniards brought the Piñata to Mexico it retained it's religious significance even though most children today are not aware of the meaning thinking it is used only for fun.
The central part of the Piñata is made of clay into the shape of a pot and represents the devil.  Inside the pot is filled with sweets representing the love of God and the destruction of the seven evil capitol sins and the receiving of longed for desires.  Originally the piñata was like a star with 7 points which represent the seven major sins:  arrogance, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy or jealousy, and laziness or idleness.
The stick that is used to break the Piñata represents the force of virtue that breaks false and deceitful delights of the world

 

Now 7.30 and the power just came on interesting what we take for granted!!!

 

Another article to enjoy!!!

Evolution: Why are most of us right-handed?

 

Jason G Goldman

About the author

Jason G Goldman is a science writer based in Los Angeles. He writes about animal behavior, wildlife, and the complex relationship between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. Find him on twitter:

 

Right-handed people are dominant worldwide – but why? Jason G Goldman investigates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Higher rates of obesity and ill-health have been found in shift workers than the general population

We humans don’t typically agree on all that much, but there is at least one thing that an impressive amount of us accept: which hand is easiest to control. If you use one hand for writing, you probably use the same one for eating as well, and most of us – around 85% of our species – prefer our right hands. In fact, "there has never been any report of a human population in which left-handed individuals predominate", according to archaeologist Natalie Uomini at the University of Liverpool in the UK.

Lateralisation of limb use – that is, a bias towards one side or the other – usually begins in the brain. We know that some tasks are largely controlled by brain activity in the left hemisphere, while the right hemisphere governs other tasks. Confusingly, there is some crossing of nerves between the body and the brain, which means it’s actually the left side of the brain that has more control over the right side of the body and vice versa. In other words, the brain’s left hemisphere helps control the operation of the right hand, eye, leg and so on.

 

(Gisela Giardino/Flick/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Some argue that this division of neurological labour has been a feature of animals for half a billion years. Perhaps it evolved because it is more efficient to allow the two hemispheres to carry out different computations at the same time. The left side of the brain, for instance, might have evolved to carry out routine operations – things like foraging for food – while the right side was kept free to detect and react rapidly to unexpected challenges in the environment – an approaching predator, for insrance. This can be seen in various fish, toads and birds, which are all more likely to attack prey seen in the right eye.

So it is possible (though hard to prove) that as our hominin ancestors began walking on two legs rather than four, freeing up their hands to perform new tasks like making tools, they were predisposed to begin using those hands differently. Or, as cognitive scientist Stephanie Braccini and colleagues put it in a Journal of Human Evolution study, "a strengthening of individual asymmetry [may have] started as soon as early hominins assumed a habitual upright posture during tool use or foraging".

 

(John Morgan/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

In support of the idea, Braccini and her colleagues’ looked at handedness in chimpanzees, and found that when the apes stand on all fours, they displayed no real hand preferences. It was only when forced to assume an upright stance that a lateral preference emerged – although individual chimps in the study were equally likely to be left-handed as right-handed.

Evidently, then, something else was needed to push early humans from a lateral preference in general to the extremely high levels of right-handedness we see today.

 

 

We know roughly when that change occurred from experiments in which researchers made their own versions of ancient stone tools using either their left or right hands to chip – or knap – the tool into shape, before comparing them with the tools made by early hominins. Doing so suggests there is only limited evidence that hominin toolmakers working more than 2 million years ago were primarily right-handed.

However, stone tools that were made some 1.5 million years ago in Koobi Fora, Kenya, by two ancient human species – Homo habilis and Homo erectus – do show some evidence of species-wide right-handedness. And by the time a species called Homo heidelbergensis had appeared, perhaps around 600,000 years ago, there was a clear right-handed preference in prehistoric societies. Wear on the preserved teeth of Homo heidelbergensis, for instance, suggest that food was usually brought to the mouth with the right hand.

 

(Thinkstock)

This tells us when that shift occurred, but not why. Some have argued that it all comes down to language. Just as most people are right-handed – a trait, remember, controlled by the left side of the brain – so do most people do the bulk of their linguistic processing in their brain’s left hemisphere. Indeed, this left-brained specialisation for language is even more common than right-handedness – which might suggest that as the left hemisphere evolved for language, the preference for the right hand may have intensified simply as a side effect. This is called the Homo loquens hypothesis: lateralisation in general was driven by the evolution of an upright, bipedal stance, while the rightward preference was driven, some time later, by the evolution of language.

Right-handedness, then, may simply be an accidental by-product of the way most of our brains are wired up. But proving the hypothesis is difficult, or even impossible, since it would ideally involve running neurological tests on our long-dead ancestors. The truth is we'll probably never quite know what the sequence of events was that led our species to lean so overwhelmingly on the right sides of our bodies and the left sides of our brains.

As for the left-handers out there? Take heart! According to a 1977 paper in the journal Psychological Bulletin, "there is remarkably little evidence for any association of left-handedness with deficit, as has often been suggested". In fact, some research shows that left-handed folks might even have an easier time recovering from brain damage. And their left hand seems to have the advantage of surprise in a fight, which means they can be better at combat sports. All of which suggests there are advantages to breaking from the norm.

Yashi Kochi!!!

Tuesday 16th December 2014……Christmas came early for me!!!!!

Beautiful sunny morning and I went down to the courts for my usual Tuesday tennis but when I got there I found a mix up with the players and there was 5 of us so I told Nano who was the one that was not scheduled to play to take my spot for this morning…I had no problem giving it up as he was the one that was so obliging at the tennis slam when last minute I asked him to take part then two hours later had to cancel him…so it was good he got to play and I came home and sent a lot of time on the computer.

One issue for me is medical coverage because I have been out of my home province in Canada for an extended period of time my health coverage is cancelled and would require me to go back to re apply so I have been looking around for good medical coverage and I think I have found a good company with a adequate coverage for me…so I have lots of forms to fill in and having trouble with the format I think I may need help with the forms.

Anyway it took a lot of time and I really did not achieve very much…..at 12.30pm I had chores to do in town and also went to my old neighborhood to see Sylvester my friend and odd job man as I remembered when my camera was not working properly last year he got someone to fix it…..there is no camera repair shop in town…so I left the camera with him and he will check it out me.  I noticed that the town has a crew paving the road upto my old Colonia so that will be nice for the residents.

I then went for my regular visit with Rita and I also met her lovely daughter Ali, who is down for a whirlwind visit to see her Mum and she was also the one who took charge of my tennis racquet saga…..but wait it gets better…..this is a brief history of the racquet which I now refer to as my bat……I found the bat on the web site of Sports Authority in the States it was 229 dollars on sale for 99 dollars….I tried to order it on line and have it shipped to Ali’s address but because my credit card is a Canadian one they would not accept it so I asked Rita to order it for me and use her card and I gave her the money…that was done and the company told her 7 days for delivery which was enough time for Ali to get it and give it to her Brother Josh who you remember came down three weeks ago…well long story short the bat did not arrive in the 7 days it was over 15 days…anyway I did eventually receive it this weekend.

So when I get to Rita’s she has a big smile on her face and gives me back my money for the bat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She said Sports authority sent her an e mail survey of the service and Rita filled it in expressing her displeasure of the service…well she received an e mail a few days later telling her how sorry they were and refunded the whole amount…. that is what I call customer satisfaction..…so Leslie gets a free bat!!!!!!!!Merry Christmas!!!!

We had a great game of cards and then I drove Ali around town to do a few chores…….

Tonight I went to a friend of a friends house for dinner it was a small birthday party with wonderful food and great company sorry no photos you know why now!!!!

My friend Carol sent me the below interesting story!!!

 

The slow death of purposeless walking

By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine

 

A number of recent books have lauded the connection between walking - just for its own sake - and thinking. But are people losing their love of the purposeless walk?

Walking is a luxury in the West. Very few people, particularly in cities, are obliged to do much of it at all. Cars, bicycles, buses, trams, and trains all beckon.

Instead, walking for any distance is usually a planned leisure activity. Or a health aid. Something to help people lose weight. Or keep their fitness. But there's something else people get from choosing to walk. A place to think.

Wordsworth was a walker. His work is inextricably bound up with tramping in the Lake District. Drinking in the stark beauty. Getting lost in his thoughts.

 

Famous walkers 1

"As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives."

• Walking (Henry David Thoreau)

Charles Dickens was a walker. He could easily rack up 20 miles, often at night. You can almost smell London's atmosphere in his prose. Virginia Woolf walked for inspiration. She walked out from her home at Rodmell in the South Downs. She wandered through London's parks.

Henry David Thoreau, who was both author and naturalist, walked and walked and walked. But even he couldn't match the feat of someone like Constantin Brancusi, the sculptor who walked much of the way between his home village in Romania and Paris. Or indeed Patrick Leigh Fermor, whose walk from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul at the age of 18 inspired several volumes of travel writing. George Orwell, Thomas De Quincey, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bruce Chatwin, WG Sebald and Vladimir Nabokov are just some of the others who have written about it.

From recent decades, the environmentalist and writer John Francis has been one of the truly epic walkers. Francis was inspired by witnessing an oil tanker accident in San Francisco Bay to eschew motor vehicles for 22 years. Instead he walked. And thought. He was aided by a parallel pledge not to speak which lasted 17 years.

But you don't have to be an author to see the value of walking. A particular kind of walking. Not the distance between porch and corner shop. But a more aimless pursuit.

In the UK, May is National Walking Month. And a new book, A Philosophy of Walking by Prof Frederic Gros, is currently the object of much discussion. Only last week, a study from Stanford University showed that even walking on a treadmill improved creative thinking.

 

Famous walkers 2

"Some years ago, a temporary inability to sleep, referable to a distressing impression, caused me to walk about the streets all night, for a series of several nights. The disorder might have taken a long time to conquer, if it had been faintly experimented on in bed; but, it was soon defeated by the brisk treatment of getting up directly after lying down, and going out, and coming home tired at sunrise."

• Night Walks (Charles Dickens)

Across the West, people are still choosing to walk. Nearly every journey in the UK involves a little walking, and nearly a quarter of all journeys are made entirely on foot, according to one survey. But the same study found that a mere 17% of trips were "just to walk". And that included dog-walking.

It is that "just to walk" category that is so beloved of creative thinkers.

"There is something about the pace of walking and the pace of thinking that goes together. Walking requires a certain amount of attention but it leaves great parts of the time open to thinking. I do believe once you get the blood flowing through the brain it does start working more creatively," says Geoff Nicholson, author of The Lost Art of Walking.

"Your senses are sharpened. As a writer, I also use it as a form of problem solving. I'm far more likely to find a solution by going for a walk than sitting at my desk and 'thinking'."

Nicholson lives in Los Angeles, a city that is notoriously car-focused. There are other cities around the world that can be positively baffling to the evening stroller. Take Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital. Anyone planning to walk even between two close points should prepare to be patient. Pavements mysteriously end. Busy roads need to be traversed without the aid of crossings. The act of choosing to walk can provoke bafflement from the residents.

 

The flaneur

• Oxford English Dictionary defines as: "A lounger or saunterer, an idle 'man about town'"
• Term originated in 19th Century France
• Poet Charles Baudelaire regarded as archetype

"A lot of places, if you walk you feel you are doing something self-consciously. Walking becomes a radical act," says Merlin Coverley, author of The Art of Wandering: The Writer as Walker.

But even in car-focused cities there are fruits for those who choose to ramble. "I do most of my walking in the city - in LA where things are spread out," says Nicholson. "There is a lot to look at. It's urban exploration. I'm always looking at strange alleyways and little corners."

Nicholson, a novelist, calls this "observational" walking. But his other category of walking is left completely blank. It is waiting to be filled with random inspiration.

Not everybody is prepared to wait. There are many people who regard walking from place to place as "dead time" that they resent losing, in a busy schedule where work and commuting takes them away from home, family and other pleasures. It is viewed as "an empty space that needs to be filled up", says Rebecca Solnit, author of Wanderlust: A History of Walking.

 

Famous walkers 3

"... When the desire comes upon us to go street rambling... getting up we say: "Really I must buy a pencil," as if under cover of this excuse we could indulge safely in the greatest pleasure of town life in winter -rambling the streets of London."

• Street Haunting - A London Adventure (Virginia Woolf)

Many now walk and text at the same time. There's been an increase in injuries to pedestrians in the US attributed to this. One study suggested texting even changed the manner in which people walked.

It's not just texting. This is the era of the "smartphone map zombie" - people who only take occasional glances away from an electronic routefinder to avoid stepping in anything or being hit by a car.

"You see people who don't get from point A to point B without looking at their phones," says Solnit. "People used to get to know the lay of the land."

People should go out and walk free of distractions, says Nicholson. "I do think there is something about walking mindfully. To actually be there and be in the moment and concentrate on what you are doing."

 

Physicists who liked walking

• Werner Heisenberg liked to walk
• The full significance of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle only struck British physicist Paul Dirac when the latter was out for a long walk
• Otto Frisch and Lise Meitner realised the key principle behind atomic weapons on a walk in the snow. Technically, Frisch was not walking but on skis at the time

And this means no music, no podcasts, no audiobooks. It might also mean going out alone.

CS Lewis thought that even talking could spoil the walk. "The only friend to walk with is one who so exactly shares your taste for each mood of the countryside that a glance, a halt, or at most a nudge, is enough to assure us that the pleasure is shared."

The way people in the West have started to look down on walking is detectable in the language. "When people say something is pedestrian they mean flat, limited in scope," says Solnit.

Boil down the books on walking and you're left with some key tips:

• Walk further and with no fixed route
• Stop texting and mapping
• Don't soundtrack your walks
• Go alone
• Find walkable places
• Walk mindfully

Then you may get the rewards. "Being out on your own, being free and anonymous, you discover the people around you," says Solnit.

 

Yashi Kochi!!!!

Monday 15th December 2014…seems strange no class!!!!!!

Wow the weeks go by so fast here we are another Monday morning….I guess I did more running than I thought yesterday at the tennis slam as my legs were a little weary this morning but my yoga class fixed that.

Also promised photos of my new well travelled tennis racquet!!!!!

When I was doing my Spanish homework over the weekend I got very down on myself and despondent it seemed I can retain not much and I was confused and overwhelmed…some strong words there…..anyway when I saw Marysol this morning for my lesson she grounded me and had me just reading for 45 minutes and reassured me that all students go through this and not to be hard on myself…I must say I felt better when I left and determined to do the best I can.

My next stop was to have tea with my former land lady and good friend Sharon..we got caught up on all our stuff it was a lovely visit thanks.

I then had some banking and chores to do in town before I came home for the day….it seems really strange not to be preparing for my English class I miss those students the next class is not till January 12th…….

This evening was a quiet one catching my breath from a hectic weekend  ……I think I did not mention it on Friday but I did go and see Martin who is Paola's Mum’s boyfriend and the house where they have moved into…I saw him at his work and I just quietly asked him if I could take Paola swimming and he simply told me no…I asked him if I could arrange to take her to the dentist and he told me no…….I will not write here what I told him but I was not rude but quite emphatic…..it seems I have lost the contact with her which makes me sad!!!

Another BBC sorts story…

Serving for Success: The Long Game

Behind every great tennis player is a great reason, a grand goal. They put themselves through a physical and mental mangle for a multitude of motivations.

But each journey starts with a purpose - so what is driving the elite tennis players of the current generation?

"Every player is motivated by the grand slams," Japan's Kei Nishikori, who reached his first major final at the US Open in 2014, tells the BBC.

"When I was a kid I didn't think anything, I was just playing tennis. But now my goal is to get to world No.1 and win grand slams of course."

Australia's former US Open and Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt agrees: "For me, the grand slams are so important.

"Playing at places like Wimbledon is what you dream of as a kid. It will be one of the biggest things that I miss when I eventually do retire."

Nishikori became the first Asian-born male player to reach a Grand Slam singles final at the 2014 US Open

Success at the four majors - the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open - brings other motivating factors: fame and fortune.

An injury-hit 2013 season did not stop Roger Federer, a winner of 17 grand slams, finishing the year as the game's highest earner.

The Swiss banked $172m, with the top female earner, Russian Maria Sharapova, collecting $29m.

The bulk of their income came from sponsorship deals, a product of their fame rather than their infallibility on court.

"For some players, the financial rewards come into it but probably not as many as people think," says Rachel Newnham, who works with British players as the performance lifestyle advisor for the Lawn Tennis Association.

"In the lower professional ranks, the prize money is terrible, so winning more money will eventually motivate those players. But it's definitely the driven, competitive side of players that motivates them most."

For others, there are more personal, esoteric reasons behind why they pick up a racquet.

"All I think of is my grandparents on my father's side," explains French grand slam semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Numbers game

*all records in the Open Era from 1968

$8.014m: 2014 prize money earned by top male earner Novak Djokovic as of 22 September 2014

$6.697m: 2014 prize money earned by top female earner Serena Williams as of 22 September 2014

1.1m: estimated number of people playing tennis globally

344: record number of total career titles won by Czech Martina Navratilova

49: age of the oldest grand slam champion, Navratilova, when she won US Open mixed doubles crown

22: the record number of singles grand slams won in female game by German Steffi Graf

17: the record number of singles grand slams won in male game by Swiss Roger Federer

16: age of Swiss Martina Hingis when she became the youngest singles grand slam winner with victory in the Australian Open

"The way they lived was tough for them and today I am here, hitting well, pretty healthy. I have everything to be the happiest guy in the world."

Dutchman Robin Haase adds: "Tennis is such a competitive sport, it's almost impossible to win. Even Federer and Rafael Nadal lose.

"And I didn't start tennis because of the money. I made my job out of my hobby, for me that's enough motivation."

Carlos Rodriguez, coach to China's two-time grand slam champion Li Na and Belgian seven-time major winner Justin Henin, believes channelling this inner spark is crucial to long-term success.

The Argentine now runs the Potters Wheel International Academy in Beijing, where he is also teaching his philosophy to the next generation.

"I ask players many times 'give me the reason you play tennis?' Rodriguez tells the BBC.

"Many players don't discover the real reason they play, why they sacrifice, travelling all over the world, running behind a grand slam title. I have to show them they can be motivated by themselves.

"It's a state of mind. Tennis helps them to discover their maximum potential as a human being. You are good because you have something inside you."

If sticking with the game requires an internal starter motor, then the decision to retire is even more of a personal choice.

Borg retired at the age of 26 in 1983 with $3.6m in career prize money, a record at the time

Bjorn Borg famously made a shock decision to hang up his wooden racquet at the age of just 26. The Swedish legend was in his prime, on a roll with 11 grand slam titles, but had become tired of the game.

"When you retire, you retire, not because of other people," says 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, who had considered quitting before his triumph on the grass.

"Sometimes you don't want to admit it yourself. 'Maybe one more year, one more year…' In your head you have to be ready and happy."

For others, injuries force them to return permanently to the locker room.

Belgian battler Henin retired in 2008 after becoming burned out. She made a comeback, only to retire three years later at the age of 28 because of an elbow injury.

"I had hoped for another kind of comeback and dreamed of another end," she said at the time.

Modern racquet technology may have changed the game for good but there is evidence that the light, deft racquets are responsible for a rising number of injuries.

The likes of Juan Martin Del Potro and Novak Djokovic have had their 2014 seasons interrupted by injuries to their wrists, which feel the force of today's big hitters.

"The new racquets are lighter and streamlined so they can be twisted and turned at multiple angles," explains Robert Hill, a physiotherapist working with British tennis players at the National Tennis Centre.

"The speed of the hand is now a lot quicker and that puts more stress on the body.

"We did an analysis of our injuries over the last three years. In the upper limbs, we had mainly wrist injuries to do with the technique of hitting the ball and hitting it with more spin.

"The most common injuries overall were to the thighs which take pressure on serving, landing and change of direction."

There is a danger that the physical demands of the modern game can pluck a tennis player off court and into early retirement.

Identifying and preventing injuries is crucial for the physiotherapists and expert fitness teams working with the elite players.

"Players are looking after themselves much better and access to sports science facilities can help them prolong their careers," adds Hill.

"In the professional game, the average age of players is increasing. In the men's top-100, it's 27-28 and in the female game the average age is 24-25."

Throughout most of tennis' history, racquets were made of laminated wood. But modern day racquets are made from a high modulus graphite and/or carbon fibre, which is used to keep the frame lightweight

Honing racquet technology to take some of the effort out of the power shots also aims to ease some of the game's physical demands.

"In the 1980s and 1990s, players hit the ball in the middle of the racquet," explains Ralph Schwenger, director of research and development for racquet manufacturer Head. "Now, through analysis, we see the player hits the ball further up.

"By optimising the mass distribution of the racquet, we can move the sweet spot up by taking weight away from the middle and moving it to the handle and tip of the racquet."

Taking the weight out of the emotional demands of the game is also important to career longevity.

"Tennis players spend a lot of time on their own, and often have a lot of down time because of the nature of the tournaments," adds Newnham.

"It's for players to know they have people around them, like coaches, loved ones and sports psychologists.

"Being able to talk through fears or worries gives them peace of mind. But to be able to be in your own company in far-flung places is important."

When it comes to winning the long game, tennis is an individual sport and it all comes down to one body and one mind.

"That's why tennis players are mostly very big egoists," explains flamboyant Latvian Ernests Gulbis. "We are mostly alone. We do not have team spirit.

"What does success mean to me? I've been understanding that for the last few years.

"I'm depending on success to just be in comfort with myself. I stopped running behind the illusion of some other enjoyment and started to find it on court - that means a lot to me."

Yashi Kochi!!!!